comment by mk

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comment by mk

mk · 4855 days ago · link · · parent · post: Are jobs obsolete?

You make a good point. But the hyperbole threw me a bit.

I'd spend my time working my hobbies, which I can hardly find enough time for. But you're probably right about many people needing direction that they cannot find. Jobs may be inextricably linked to high density living.

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kleinbl00 · 4855 days ago · link ·

I figure hyperbole is de rigeur when discussing an article whose argument is "we don't need, like, jobs, man, we just need, like, computers'n'stuff!"

People like to work. Don't believe me? What the hell is Farmville, then? The disconnect our society faces is this: That which we do for money is seldom that which we do for fun.

This is a trap society has placed for us and only the clever evade it. The trick, however, is not to erase "that which we do for money" but to empower "that which we do for fun." I think in a round-about sort of way, I agree with the author in this... but his approach to dealing with the problem is sophomoric at best.

+discuss+discuss

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mk · 4855 days ago · link ·

No, I believe you. I actually agree with you and the author each to some degree. Honestly, I'm just bouncing this idea around in my head, and deciding what does and doesn't make sense about it. Society never stops evolving as technology does, so it makes sense to speculate on where we might be headed.

What interests me is: If production keeps increasing, will we end up doing work that we enjoy more, or work simply bear the same relative burdens to constantly improve production?

+discuss+discuss

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cW · 4854 days ago · link ·

I kind of feel as if a false dichotomy is at work in this article, and the ensuing discussion: either we continue as wage-slaves for corporations, or else we become subsidized individuals making strictly digital products for personal fulfillment. One of the greatest losses to humanity inflicted by the age of mechanical reproduction was that of the artisan, and I think that if Rushkoff's recommendations for the renegotiation of goods for services were put into place, we would see this class rise again, and with it, hopefully, a renaissance of individual genius and discovery. This kind of work, after all, is deeply fulfilling to the individual, whose personal interests dictate the trajectory of accomplishment, whose skill determines its scope, and whose accomplishments result in objects, whether concrete or ephemeral, which can be put to use, sold, consumed, etc. It seems to me that certain developments in local markets, such as the resurgence of small, local farms, dairies, ranches, etc., are evidence that the return of such barter economies would work both to enrich peoples lives (and diets) and to re-infuse their lives with purpose and dignity. The truly intriguing question this article poses is whether the development of these new micro-markets will occur in spite of increasingly outmoded economic systems, or in accordance with new ones. My guess? The former.

+discuss+discuss

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mk · 4853 days ago · link ·

cW, I mentioned elsewhere that I saw my first 3D printer this weekend. Few 'new gadgets' have excited me as much as that. There is now a community (http://www.thingiverse.com/) that shares blueprints for things, that people make with these printers. This phenomenon gives me a lot of hope that an artisan economy might be possible, and maybe, because there won't be another option. -My guess is that eventually, no design department will be able to keep pace with (or no IP lawyer contain! :)) the crowd-sourced pool of creativity.

+discuss+discuss

kleinbl00 · 4855 days ago · link ·

Bill McKibben lays out this argument pretty well in his book "Eaarth." He's not the first person to point out that an exponential system cannot increase indefinitely and that the notion of ever-increasing production is a recent (and dangerous) one. In a nutshell, McKibben argues that what computers have done for us is eliminate the need to travel and transport from far to near and that in the end, we're going to be much happier living much simpler lives.

However, he starts out his argument with "and we're totally fucked if we don't" and buttresses it with "and our lifestyles are going to be significantly less complicated and filled with stuff in the meantime." Things like "you're going to get to eat meat maybe once a week" and "foreign travel is going to be the luxury of the extraordinarily wealthy."

+discuss+discuss

mk · 4855 days ago · link ·

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